


Daddy's Little Girl

by J_Antebellum



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Genre: Daddy Strike, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 23:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_Antebellum/pseuds/J_Antebellum
Summary: A series of vignettes showing Strike's transformation from "I hate children" to "she's MINE".





	1. Changing my mind

After 39 years saying time and time again that he would never have children and a year of managing to become quite an exceptional uncle after a long period of mediocrity, Cormoran Strike had finally managed to conquest Robin Ellacott's heart. It took him so much hard work to admit he loved her to himself, months of waiting until she was divorced and in a great place, extra months to convince herself that he had to tell her, but finally they were dating. So, when, ten months into the relationship, the happiest ten months of Strike's life, Robin casually commented now that she was nearing thirty her biological clock was ticking, he got nervous, but he wasn't about to throw it all away.

So although he had always stated that someone who doesn't want a child should never have one, now he found himself trying to convince himself having a child with Robin, just one, would me marvelous. He let Stephen Ellacott, a happy father of twins, talk him into it, and his eager little sister, and all his friends who were parents, and of course his favourite and most spoiled godchildren, the Herbert babies. In the end, he thought, he had always disliked being an uncle and now he felt so lucky to be one and loved hanging with, at least Jack, so what if he loved to be a Dad and he didn't know? What if the little Strike-Ellacott, with Robin's explosive DNA, became his favourite person, like Jack wanting to be a soldier, or a detective, or like Robin?

He was so in love with Robin. He knew she would be an incredible mother, she was all of his stars, his moon, his sun, he couldn't do life with her and he had never felt so in deep for anyone. So if she wanted a child, perhaps he should give in, because there were plenty of things, including Robin, that he once thought terrible ideas but now were the best things of his life, and nothing she had ever given him had been wrong.

In the end, however, he didn't get to purposely look for a child. Robin had almost died in a gas explosion at her new flat, and during the subsequent four days in the ICU, Strike had felt like he would physically die without her, his eyes had opened, he has grabbed his mother's ring, and the minute her eyes opened in the hospital, without caring about everyone present, he had confessed with a broken voice and teary eyes that he had never been so terrified before and he couldn't and didn't want to imagine a life without her, and he had asked her to marry him, promising her that he'd spend his life doing whatever took to make her happy, because she was his universe. She, barely able to even talk, had accepted, and for three months had daily asked if he was sure, given him chances to step back. That only made him love her more, to a point where it felt like his heart would literally explode and he understood the Herberts' love more than ever before.

And in the passion unraveled by their growing love, after a ridiculously short engagement culminated in a small, humble countryside wedding in winter Cornwall, Aiden Leda Ellacott-Strike happened. He would never forget the fear with which Robin had announced the accident, and he told himself that this was the Universe telling him this was what he had to do. This was his path. This baby had chosen and wanted him as a father, as messy as it could be, and Robin would never give him something bad. After all, most of his mates who were fathers had in their youth ridiculed the idea of fatherhood and now admitted their lives would feel empty without their kids. As Nick put it "this baby is going to make you feel things bigger than you ever thought possible to feel" and as Uncle Ted said "I didn't know I wanted you and Lucy until I had you. This  baby will be your favourite person from the start, because it will have parts of the woman you love, your sister, your own mother, the inlaws you adore. This baby will be like all your favourite things in one. And very possibly, like you or Jack, it will inherit parts of you and you'll have in common more than you think. You will never feel alone".

So Strike made an offer on a bigger house, built a crib with his own hands, and in their brand new office started baby proofing everything. And then he bought every book on fatherhood he could find. If he had to be a father, he would be the best one, because his baby deserve


	2. The moment I was yours

Aiden Leda Ellacott-Strike came to the world on October 31st 2015. She had a mane of dark curls and was enormous and fat, with a cheeky face, and the cutest gestures. Strike held her dubious, still in shock about her arrival and thinking she looked like an alien.

"Hi. I'm Daddy." He said holding the crying baby while the placenta was pushed out and the Mummy was busy. The minute he said it, the weight of reality seemed to slap him, and he felt breathless. Aiden, as they had named after Lucy (whose middle name was Aiden) and because it was always Robin's favourite name coincidentally, stopped crying immediately and snuggled into his chest. He wrapped her closer in response and observed perplexed as she seemed to relax into his embrace. He felt powerful. He had done that? Did he mean so much to her that just hearing his familiar voice made her feel safe and okay? And so he swore to himself that he'd never be less than that to her. He'd be his little girl's Daddy to war if necessary.

"Look at that," Robin grinned an hour later, as the baby refused to let go of his finger even as she breastfeed. "Daddy's little girl!" She was beaming, and Strike's chest filled with unknown pride, already smug because the baby had his dark hair, his big size, his ears, and although he would've loved for her to be a mini Robin, he discovered this felt incredibly good as well. It was the best way to tell other men who her protective Dad was.

So when his friends came to visit the baby and found him snoring away with a finger clenched in Aiden's hand as she slept, he had to agree he was wrapped around her finger, and he wasn't even embarrassed.

She was Daddy's and Daddy was hers.


	3. Superhero

"I could show her."

Robin laughed hard at Strike's proposal. The latching that had come so easily at the hospital now, at the first breastfeeding home, seemed to be forgotten and impossible, as Aiden struggled to do things properly. Then Strike's suggestion had come and she could do nothing but laugh, while he smiled softly at them, his dark eyes tenderly examining their baby daughter.

"I think she can learn by herself, but thank you," Robin said as her laugh calmed down, and the baby seemed to start sucking properly, making her raise her eyebrows towards her husband as if saying 'Told you'.

"Thank God, I was starting to doubt she was a Strike, not knowing how to eat..."

Truth was 27h after becoming a father, Strike still couldn't believe he was, in fact, a father. He kept thinking of Aiden as a new pet he was responsible of, and then holding her and feeling like she owned every fiber of him all of the sudden. Robin, however, was full maternal instincts kicking in, and he observed in awe the way she looked at Aiden in a way he had never seen her look at something, the gentleness with which she caressed the little round cheeks, the softness of her voice singing lullabies, and the way her body always seemed to know exactly how to curl around the baby.

The last month of pregnancy had been exhausting, as, with the baby being huge, Robin rightfully felt like a whale and struggled to move around, and was so tired. Now she was still tired, so after Aiden ate, she passed her to Strike so he could help their daughter burp while she dozed off for a bit.

Strike took Aiden in his arms, put her against his towel-covered shoulder, and gently patted her back until she burped so hard he looked at her with incredulity, feeling for a second that he was holding a teenager. Once she had burped enough and was curling into her sleeping position, her hands tightening in fists inside her cotton gloves, and her long legs folding with her feet against his forearm, he kept her horizontal against his chest, allowing himself a moment to really look at her.

She was wearing an onesie without leg sleeves, because it was a hot day, and it was blue with a brown bird in the middle. Their friends had teased with naming her after a bird, but Strike didn't want to be the bird family. Her legs were full of rosy rolls like a bulldog's neck, and her hair was abundant, dark and curly, a little damp from the sweat she had gotten during her nap. Strike realised then she had inherited a lot from Leda, just like her cousin Jack. She had thin lips with a very defined shape, quite perfect, like her grandmother, and the same dark hair and general beauty, although, Strike realized, her Mum was also an incredible beauty, so it could be an Ellacott trait. She had little freckles, Strike was first-noticing, on the bridge of a nose that was thin like Robin's and roman like Strike's, although being so tiny there was barely bridge yet. It would grow as she grew. Her eyebrows were thick but with the Ellacott shape, and her eyes were Ellacott shaped, with the lashes long and dark, abundant, like Strike, but with a blonde start. She had his ears and Robin's general face, and Strike had a feeling her eyes would be as blue as Robin's. He had dark ones that were dominant, but Robin's blue gene was strong, as even with a dark-eyed father, three of his children were blue-eyed, and Strike's sister was blue-eyed, something Strike thought to be Fantoni until Ted commented his mother, that Strike hadn't known, was blue eyed. He thought that just like Lucy ended up blonde, blue eyed, and so unlike he and Leda, Aiden would get blue eyes too; they were already quite light. He crossed fingers, because he would love for her to have that Ellacott thing, since she looked so Strike.

Her chest moved up and down and she relaxed in his arms, moving a hand to squeeze his thumb as he held her. Her lips pouted perfectly well and her other hand held her ear unconsciously. Her curls were a bloody mess and Strike smiled. It was as if she had taken all of him he had never necessarily liked and made something beautiful with them. She was just so pretty, and even her curls looked gracious and not like pubic hair.

"She's such a good girl, so quiet," Linda, who was spending a few days with Michael at their house to spend time with their granddaughter and help them around, had sat next to him on the sofa, where he had ended up. "Look how comfortably she sleeps on you, what a pose!" She giggled, and Aiden let out a huge yawn, showing all her gums and snuggling more into his chest. He could feel her hand was strong around his thumb.

"She's absolutely perfect," Strike whispered, feeling his chest heavy with affection. "Just like her mother."

Linda grinned and rubbed his back.

"Did you know babies are very sensitive? They sometimes cry just because they feel tension in the air. Look how chilled-out she is. That's because she trusts you. She knows you're an amazing father and she doesn't need to worry one bit."

Strike beamed. She hadn't cried since birth really, so he imagined they were doing something very well. But if he was honest with himself, he thought she made him so relaxed, and that what she felt was his conviction that he would be able to do anything necessary, to push through hell and reborn from his ashes if possible, because holding a creature like that, how would he not feel like a superhero?


	4. Daddy's little Gooner

That night, they all went to bed early. Aiden was nursed for the last time and put into her crib, and they sang her a lullaby before snuggling in bed, Strike sprawled on his back as usual and Robin on her side with her arm thrown over his shoulder. Her parts still felt too sensitive and her breasts too big, but the body of her giant husband pressed against hers was a comforting presence.

A couple hours later however, Aiden woke them up whining, and after determining she wasn't hungry nor dirty, Strike offered to get her so Robin could rest a bit longer. He carefully took the baby wrapped up in a wool blanket and hugged her against her chest wrapped like a taco. He set the laptop on the coffee table and lied on the sofa with the baby against his chest and his arms around her, watching football on the laptop. Aiden had stopped crying and had stretched a small hand timidly to grab the dark mane of curls that peeked through Strike's collar. He eventually dozed off, feeling the tiny pulls of his hair and the warmth of the baby.

When Robin and her parents came downstairs in the morning, they found Strike snoring and Aiden asleep, still clinging onto his hair. Robin beamed at the sight, and once more found herself wondering how had anyone ever doubted of Strike's parental skills.

But the night adventure gave Strike ideas, and he decided to take Aiden with him for a morning walk.

"Your life is about to drastically improve, poppet," he said pushing the carrier where the baby curled and slept.

They entered Arsenal FC's official store and Strike couldn't help the grin on his face as he found a legless onesie, red with white sleeves, size 6 to 12 months. Aiden, at just days of age, was wearing clothes of 3 months size. This would be a little big, but last longer. The onesie had a multitude of tiny red cannons on the sleeves and on the chest it said 'Little Gooner' with the team's mascot, a dinosaur.

A quick try out to check it was fine on Aiden if he rolled-up the sleeves, a search for a shirt his size that said 'Big Gooner', red with a giant cannon, and he was successfully doing a purchase that brought him more satisfaction than any purchase had ever given him. He snuck upstairs with Aiden the minute he got home, changed her, put on his new shirt, and with a beaming face full of excitement went back to the kitchen, where the family was making lunch.

Michael roared in laughter the second he saw them, as Strike proudly held his daughter on one arm so both clothes were visible. The women turned to look and laughed as well. Robin shook her head with a smirk.

"You're so proud of yourself, it's adorable," she kissed him and then Aiden. "You cute little Dino! But we're not buying her those expensive uniforms, only the cute stuff."

"Look, Poppet! We're gonna be the coolest supporters! Even Uncle Nick's gonna be jelly!" Strike bounced the girl, smug, and she looked at him all confused before squealing, to his delight.


	5. Lunch and napping partner

A/N: Aiden's birth date was mistaken, and it had been fixed in the first line of chapter 2.

Overall, Aiden was a quiet, observing little girl. After her first week of life, her grandparents headed back to Masham, and her eyes were very definitely her mother's same colour. Her life consisted mostly of sleeping, whining and, very rarely, crying, and Strike and Robin took turns to work during three days a week, one week each, self-arranging parental leaves, because being freelance it was up to them to decide how much they took. Their business was a big deal now, and they had moved to a bigger place, equally humble-looking, two blocks from their old office, that was now an apartment building. Sam, Andy and a couple other employees had fixed contracts, and they allowed themselves to have a bit more time with their kid.

At almost 41, Strike was old for a father. His best friends Nick and Ilsa, who were one his same age and the other barely five months younger, had two-year-old fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, and they were considered old parents as well. Lucy, who was only a couple years younger than Strike, had three boys in the beginning of their teenage years by now. Jack, who was the closest to Strike and who had turned twelve that year, often worked in his office on Fridays after class, for a couple hours in exchange of five pounds, often doing some cleaning, organizing folders or learning to be a detective when Strike and Robin let him join in small investigation work. On the opposite side was Robin, who had just turned thirty-one when the baby was born, and thus becoming one of the youngest mothers they knew, almost as young as Lucy had been. But when Strike looked at Aiden, he felt ten years younger.

“Come on gorgeous, let's get you dressed to see your godparents and Aunty Luce and Uncle Greg, shall we?” Robin was almost drooling over how cute Aiden was, stretched out in her crib after a long nap with her sleepy face. Strike said she had her face, but she said she had his face. Truth be told, both parents had round cheeky faces, so none was exactly wrong.

“Blue little dress or purple little dress?” Strike asked, opening the little white cabinet where her dresses where stored. “I think blue's warmer.”

“Uhm...” Robin looked out the window as she pulled the baby into her arms. “Blue will do, love. Are you wearing that jumper Luce gave you last Christmas?”

Strike loved the ease with which they fell into domestic routine, a routine he would have, in another time, not fancied. She changed Aiden's nappy while Strike made faces and noises to amuse the girl and keep her entertained, and he dressed her while Robin made sure the baby bag was ready and determined how many nappies should they bring with themselves. Being so young, Aiden had a surprising amount of personality to show. She had her temper, like her father, and would scowl deeply at anything she didn't approve of, feared, or was too weird and unfamiliar, but was conciliatory as her mother and wouldn't throw a tantrum right away. As a matter of fact, so far she was proving to be really calm, and didn't throw tantrums. She liked cuddles, being wrapped like a taco, her mother's milk, and the musical toys, and she would be wide awake and attentive to singing and reading, which she enjoyed. Robin insisted the little baby was already showing promise with music.

In the meantime, Strike was quitting smoking. He had, actually, started when they had gotten engaged, and he had never smoked a fag near Robin while she was pregnant, or in any room she tended to visit without the windows wide open. Now, he forbid himself from smoking in the house altogether, and even in his inner office at work he'd keep the windows open, because Aiden often hung out with them when they did office work.

“All right, you're all set Aiden, let's find Mummy!” Strike scooped the baby up against his chest with one arm around her and a hand under her knees, and they went downstairs, where Robin waited after putting the baby carriage in her car, along the other baby things and some food they had made.

“What a pretty sight!” Robin grinned at them and reached to caress Aiden's cheek. “So cute. Oh, I love that jumper on you.” She patted Strike's chest and he smiled and followed her outside.

Since their normal dynamic was Robin drove and Strike sat with the baby, he put her in her special chair and sat next to it, letting the baby entertain herself playing with the hair on his fingers until she fell asleep. They were going for lunch to Lucy's house, and the Herbert family had also been invited on what would be Aiden's very first day out since birth, as training for their scheduled Christmas trip to St. Mawes, Cornwall, so Strike's family could be with the little girl a bit.

“Is Aiden asleep?” Robin asked, happy to be back driving, since she hadn't done it much in quite a while. She had gone on maternal leave two weeks before giving birth, when she was so big she could hardly even walk, let alone reach the steering wheel, and since they were home she hadn't driven much. She was still recovering, getting her body back together, and breastfeeding, so she had usually stayed home with the baby while Strike ran to buy nappies and anything necessary.

“Out cold,” Strike confirmed with a nod, stroking Aiden's pouting lips with one finger. He was marvelled by how perfect he found her. He couldn't understand now how would any parent dislike their baby in the way Charlotte Campbell, his ex, had disliked her twins.

She drove to Lucy and Greg's in their new Land Rover Discovery Sport, a necessary shop after Robin's old Land Rover had died, Strike's second-hand BMW had gotten way too old and expensive to maintain, and the pregnancy tests had come positive. The new vehicle was thought for Robin, the master driver, so they could go on excursions to the countryside with their baby. When they arrived at the Bromley family house, Robin parked the car expertly right in front the house and pulled the carriage from the trunk while Strike managed to get Aiden without waking her up.

“She's such a puppy,” Strike commented holding the baby cautiously. Robin smiled at him and moved to kiss the top of Aiden's hairy head.

“She's just like her father,” she said, unfolding the carriage. While Strike put the baby inside and tucked her in, because even though the day was sunny, it was November and it could rain any time and get cold, Jack, his nephew, ran from the house.

“Uncle Corm, Aunty Robin!” he shouted happily, waving at them. Robin rushed to cross the road and hug the boy, who adored her, and Strike followed more quietly, pushing the carriage carefully so Aiden wouldn't wake up. She normally slept like a hibernating bear, but she got cranky as hell if her nap was somehow interrupted, and he was trying to avoid that attitude.

Jack was over the moon about his new cousin, the first girl, since in his father's side it was just a couple more boys. He leaned over the carriage with a smile and gently caressed Aiden's cheek with the back of his hand as he commented how pretty she was and told Strike excitedly that his father was cooking a barbecue in the back garden. Strike observed happily as Robin was engulfed in a excited hug by Lucy. Robin was the least skinny Strike had ever known her to be, her pregnant belly still somewhat present even if she was no longer pregnant, her breasts bigger than ever, her arms a bit fuller, her hips rounder, and her face rounder, but he found her gorgeous, even more so when he thought that all that new weight came from creating the most amazing being.

Lucy's excitement quieted down when Strike signalled the baby slept, so she came and quietly hugged her brother and drooled over Aiden, that had been the most spoiled by her aunt since the very first moment said woman knew her existence.

“Let's let her sleep a little, shall we?” Strike whispered, pulling up the carriage's hood with his coat over it so that when they went outside the sun wouldn't wake the baby up.

They walked outside behind Robin and Jack and Strike kissed Ilsa's cheek, shook Greg's hand, did the American hug with Nick, and waved at his nephews, who played football in a corner of the garden, around a tree. The Herbert twins were each with one parent, eating some baby food, and Strike smiled at them. They looked like their parents so much, all blonde and pink, and were playing with toys as they ate.

“These two get bigger by the second don't they?” Robin chuckled sitting next to Ilsa and caressing the kid's cheek. Ilsa sniggered and kissed her child's crown.

“Unfortunately too fast. By the way, where's yours? We were dying to see her!”

“Oh, she's a vampire now,” Nick joked, pointing to the carriage Strike had put between Robin and himself, carefully angled to protect it from a stray ball if it came.

“Very funny, I'm just trying to keep her from waking-up, she becomes the damn Exorcist girl when she's awoken in the middle of a nap,” Strike said, making them laugh. “But you can look at her, sleeping beauty is right there...” he moved his coat a little from over the hood so they could see. and there were general comments of adoration.

Greg was cooking right next to the table that they where sitting around, and soon it was full of food and the three young teenagers ate on one corner under their mother's watch.

“So how's fatherhood feeling, Corm?” Greg commented with a knowing smirk.

“Pretty good,” Strike munched his steak and kept an eye on the baby sleeping in the baby carriage. “Aiden's an angel. Best thing that ever happened t'us.”

“Ohh,” Robin smiled and kissed him over the carriage. “Damn true. That and our business.” Strike nodded in agreement, smiling at her.

“And how're you doing Robin, recovery all right?” asked Ilsa as she ate and her toddlers played in the garden with full stomaches.

“Pretty well,” Robin answered. “Bit fat, but well...”

“Oh, you're all right,” Strike assured her. “I wouldn't take one kilo away, you're gorgeous!”

“You're too sweet,” Robin beamed at him.

They continued eating and chatting animatedly, enjoying the company and the good weather, and around deserts Aiden seemed to remember to eat and she woke up whining and semi-crying. Robin immediately took her in her arms and kissed her as she managed to free a nipple from her shirt and put it in the baby's mouth. The baby ate greedily, with a hand on her mother's chest, the long fingers stretching and curling.

“Look how big she's gotten!” Ilsa smiled looking at the baby, whose eyes semi-opened. “Oh, she's got your eyes!”

“Really? Blue's recessive,” Nick commented surprised.

“She's perfect, I told you so,” Strike said very matter-of-factly. Lucy beamed, looking at her niece as well.

“They do run in both families,” Lucy commented, thrilled to share that with her niece.

The baby was passed to Lucy after breastfeeding, and Strike observed rather amused as his sister made noises for her and made her make weird faces, making them laugh. Eventually though, Aiden saw him and stretched her arms towards him making little noises.

“Oh, she's such Daddy's girl!” Lucy laughed, passing him the kid, and Strike contently kissed Aiden's cheek as the baby grabbed his beard and started to doze off against his clavicle.

“Of course she's Daddy's girl,” Robin chuckled, putting an arm around her husband and looking lovingly at them. “Best napping partner.”

 


	6. Musicality

One of the things Strike relished from his childhood the most was the way he had been brought-up through music. He was, after all and like his sister, the son of a rock star and a groupie who was a woman of many talents. Unbeknownst to most people, Leda Strike had had a beautiful singing voice which with she had sang to her offspring nightly, held dance parties with them in a daily basis, and played the guitar, the piano and the violoncello all self-taught. According to Ted, she had been some sort of a musical genius, he had taught her the guitar, and the rest had been her doing.

So growing with Ted and Leda, both Lucy and Strike had developed musical skills. Both sang just fine since they before they could speak, both had learnt the guitar, and then Lucy had moved on to the violin, acquiring the first one from a joint gift of Leda, Joan and Ted, and Strike had stuck with the piano. Leda had done a special effort to get them instruments, even if they lacked many other things, making them their most precious possessions. Strike had often used the pianos they let him use for free at some stores, and because pianos were particularly big and expensive, Ted had bought one he could use every time he visited home. Strike cherished the memories of him playing piano with Leda, or the four musical members of the family improvising in summer nights in Cornwall, together.

Of course, he couldn't bring a piano along when he was a soldier, but carried his mother's old guitar around, and ever since his job had taken time away from music, he had stored it in his closet, and only pulled it out when he composed a song to propose to Robin.

So obviously, when she told him she was pregnant, he immediately thought of those fond musical memories, and decided his child would grow up around music just like him. He took Robin to multiple concerts when she was pregnant, to start "educating the baby's ears", and the minute she was born, Strike overjoyed Robin singing to their baby with the deep, double-bass like voice. He had gotten a dozen musical toys, after all.

What Robin was somehow not expecting came a few days before Strike's birthday, when their baby was less than a month old, as she came back from a visit to her GP. They had bought a wooden piano together when Robin found out he had never had one, even though he played it beautifully -she had known his fingers were really skilled- and as she walked in, Robin heard what she thought was Chopin, that Leda had taught Strike. In her limited musical knowledge, Robin was only sure it was one of his Nocturnes, and she thought she had heard it in The Pianist.

She walked to their living room and melted, beaming at the sight and stopping at the threshold because she didn't want to disturb the atmosphere. Strike was playing the piano with Aiden on her baby sack strapped to his chest, turned around so she was facing the piano instead of him, with his chin by her temple. She was silent and concentrated on Strike's hands flying over the keyboard, and looked a little sleepy.

"The guy who created this was called Fryderyck Chopin," he explained softly into Aiden's ear. "It's not too hard, you just have to feel it in your gut. Look..." He took her hands softly and leaned so they reached the keyboard. Slowly and carefully, he used her hands to play some notes. Aiden's eyes widened and she made a gutural noise, kicking her legs all enthusiastic. Strike smiled warmly and kissed her head. "You like it? Perhaps one day we'll play together love, you and I. We'll serenade Mummy, uh?"

Robin stood there just watching and trying not to feel overly emotional for a while. It was just so hard to believe this was the same man who had disliked children and went from cute Daddy to ferocious detective every day and she felt so lucky to witness their special relationship blossoming like no other. She remembered a time in which he had been worried about how to bond with a girl, but he was such a natural she had no doubt their daughter already adored him. She was the only one who pulled the softest, gentlest of voices from him, and for whom he had the outmost patience and adoration. She just made him smile constantly without an effort, and Robin felt incredible just by knowing she had worked her butt off 9 months to give him someone that made him so happy.

"What are you looking at, you creep?" Strike chuckled at her and she giggled-sobbed and shook her head, rubbing her eyes.

"I was just admiring the beautiful relationship you have."

Strike smiled and caressed Aiden's curly hair.

"It's impossible to resist her when she looks at me with her mother's eyes."

Robin walked to them and hugged then, kissing them both. Strike moved to let her sit next to them and she leaned into his shoulder as he played music again.

"Robin," he said suddenly. "You have quite a great father... Do you think I'm doing okay? I've yet to master playing dolls, but..."

"Honey, a great father to a girl isn't measured by how many stereotypically girl things you can do," Robin grinned at him lovingly. "The only reason I've loved riding, or animals, is because I was surrounded by people who loved them and nurtured the same love in me. My father is the perfect father for me, but Aiden is not me. She's a whole other person and you're her best possible father because like mine did, you see the things that call her attention and you nurture them... You nurture in her the love for the things you love, you see how she responds, and you reinforce all you see she enjoys, such as music... So I'd say you're doing perfect, not because you're more or less like my Dad, Stephen, Nick or Greg, but because you're you, which is all Aiden needs. Don't measure yourself by their actions, sweetie."

Strike grinned looking smug and happy and wrapped his arms around Aiden, who was now freely pressing her hands against keys randomly. They were a little too tough, but she still tried.

"Aiden is music, Robin."

The redheaded giggled and nodded, looking down at the baby.

"She is. Melodious, rhythmic and precious."


End file.
